Doctor Who: Made of Steel Paperback

Description

Since its return to the screen in 2005, masterminded by Russell T Davies, Doctor Who has become a genuine phenomenon picking up countless awards, attracting huge audiences and selling lots and lots of books - over half a million so far.

This thrilling adventure sees the Doctor pitted against one of his most famous adversaries - the deadly Cybermen.

The first book to feature the Doctor's companion Martha Jones, it is sure to be snapped up by all fans of the show.

Other Formats

Free Home Delivery

on all orders

Pick up orders

from local bookshops

Reviews

Showing 1 - 5 of 5 reviews.

Review by
stevepugh

2

16/06/2015

Take all Dicks' Target novelisations from the 70s and 80s, feed them into a computer, extract sentences at random, replace the companion's name with Martha, and publish. Very lightweight, slightly fun, but nothing new or interesting.

Review by
celticstar

5

16/06/2015

Featuring the Doctor and Martha as played by David Tennant and Freema AgyemanAn enjoyable quick read

Review by
louisedennis

2.5

16/06/2015

The Quick Reads books are designed to appeal to adults who, for one reason or another, are anxious about reading. As such they are intended to be short with a limited vocabulary. I can't quite decide whether Terrance Dicks was an inspired choice to author one of these or a result of a misguided identification of "short with a simple vocabulary" with "suitable for children". His prose is as effortlessly simple as usual. In fact, it was only in reading this novel, that I actually recognised how distinctive his style is. It wasn't so much his reuse of phrases (and there is some of this including (but not limited to) the infamous "strange wheezing and groaning sound" - although Dicks' use of the phrase probably counts as post-modern by now) but the style itself made me feel powerfully nostalgic: it opens with a viewpoint bit part who you just know is going to die before the end of chapter one, and then he actually stops the narrative to introduce Martha Jones. Obviously there is nothing wrong with this, any author worth their salt makes time to introduce their characters even when they are currently appearing in a hugely popular TV show but somehow the paragraph"Martha Jones was the Doctor's current companion. A medical student, she had met the Doctor when terrifying alien forces had invaded the hospital where she was training. When it was all over, she had accepted his offer of 'just one trip'. Somehow that one trip had become the first of many."seemed incredibly typically Dicksian - and tells us pretty much everything we need to know about Martha for the purposes of the story in four sentences. I suspect his ability to write this sort of prose was one of the reasons he was asked to write a Quick Read.Where the book disappointed was in the actual story which was mostly a traditional Who story in fewer pages, so with no plot twists, few characters and a swift resolution (typical New Who in fact). It was certainly a "quick read" I finished it in a little over an hour. But where last year Gareth Roberts delivered a short, simply written Quick Read in which he nevertheless manage to compare human and Dalek nature, Dicks delivers something that could easily appear in the Children's section and which I would consider reading to Gwendolen if she were a little more interested in Dr Who. This seems a bit of a missed opportunity in a book aimed specifically at adults

Review by
Imshi

3

16/06/2015

I thought this wasn't bad. It's certainly not deep, but it's enjoyable enough and easy to read - good for a book that's intended to get people reading.

Review by
Elentarien

2

16/06/2015

Meh The adventure starts out ok, but I found it never really delivered. It was started and finished without really GOING anywhere. Martha seemed fairly flat and shallow (she never was the greatest of companions, but this made her seem worse) and while the Doctor was. . .well, mostly in character, he never really got a chance to shine either. All in all, the story seemed more like a short story one might find in a magazine, than a full blown novel.Not *bad*, but definitely not one of my favourites.